Web manipulating apparatus



P. COOK WEB MANIPULATING APPARATUS July .15, 1941.

F1 ed May 9, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 hay,

P. COOK WEB. MANIPULATING- APPARATUS July 15, 1941.

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WEB MANIPULATING APPARATUS Fledllay 9, 1940 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG-.

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Filed may 9, 1940 4 sheets-sheet 4 FORWARD REVERSE ATT'YS Patented July 15, 1941 2,248,962 was MANIPULATING APPARATUS Percy Cook, Waltham, Mass. Application May 9, 1940, serial No. 334,222

14 Claims.

This invention relates to web manipulating apparatus of the kind wherein a lengthwise movement is imparted to the web and is concerned with a machine suitable for twisting or untwisting the longitudinally travelling web. The ma chine may be employed, for example, in the manipulation of a web of fabric in connection with finishing operations of various kinds. It may, for example, be employed to twist a fabric web preparatory to a dyeing or other operation, and it may, as another example, be employed to untwist a fabric web following a dyeing or other operation.

The invention will best be understood by reference to the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings illustrating one specic embodiment thereof, while its scope will be pointed out more particularly in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a plan of a web manipulating machine embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view on lne 2--2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the machine as viewed from the left-hand side of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view on line 4 4 of Fig. 3; Y

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a view, partly in elevation and partly in section, illustrating one of the ball bearings employed at several points in the machine;

Fig. 7 is a plan, illustrating in a diagrammatic way, the course of the web in passing through the apparatus;

Fig. 8 is an elevation, also illustrating in a diagrammatic way, the course of the web, and

Fig. 9 is a diagram of a known circuit arrangement suitable for controlling the motor of the machine. Y

Referring to the drawings and to the embodiment of the invention illustrated therein by way of example, there is shown in Figs. 7 and 8 an arrangement of the apparatus suitable for untwisting a web of fabric which has been through a process `such as dyeing. It is of course common to twist the web preparatory to the dyeing operation. After that operation, the web must be untwisted, opened, and flattened.

A web IU, after the dyeing operation, is placed in an appropriate receptacle such as a truck I2 from which it passes upwardly to my novel manipulating apparatus .|4, presently to be described, and thence horizontally to appropriate flattening and stretching instrumentalities such as pairs of idler spreader rollers I6 inclined in the direction of travel of the web, and thence between forwarding rollers I8, whence it usually passes to another process. Briefly stated, my manipulating apparatus comprises two instrumentalities, one rotatable with relation to the other about an axis extending longitudinally of the travel of the web at that point, in this case, about a vertical axis. In the present example, the rst of these instrumentalities is a pair of guide rollers 20 and the second instrumentality is a third roller 22.

The apparatus will now be described in detail, reference being had .at first to Fig. 4. The rollers 20 have shafts 24 journalled in appropriate bearings in bearing blocks 26 which are mounted to slide horizontally in pairs of guides 28, and the Y of a frame 32 appropriately mounted for rotarollers 34 against water.

annular track 36 which is a part of a fixed frame tion about an axis A-A which in the present lexample is vertical. 'It i-s desirable that this frame should be capable of turning with the utmost freedom so that itvshall be sensitive and quickly responsive. To that end it is supported and guided by means, now to be described, which oifer little resistance. v

In the present example, the frame 32 is sustained by a plurality of rollers 34 running on an 38, and a ring 4l! secured as by a set of capscrews 42 to the frame 38 prevents the rollers from rising. A downwardlydirected annular' lip 44 on the ring serves as a baille to protect the 'I'he rollers are Isuit'- ably mounted to turn freely on studs A6 carried by the frame 32. The mounting of the rollers will be described more particularly hereinafter.

Lateral guidance of the frame 32 is provided for in a similar manner as bya plurality of rollers 48 freely turning on studs 50 carried by the frame and these rollers run on a lateral, annular track 52 which is a part of a fixed frame 54. Inv

this case, a downwardly directed, annular lip 56 protects the rollers from water.

of the rollers 48 and its stud 50 is shown at a larger scale and it appears that the roller is,Y

in reality, the outer raceof a ball-bearing 58 having an inner race 60, a set of balls 62, and a In Fig. 6, one

separator 64. The bearings which I employ in practice are sealed on both ends to prevent the entrance of foreign matter but because of the small scale of Fig. 6, these seals are not shown. The described ball-bearing construction is employed for the lower rollers 34, and for the bearing blocks 26.

To continue with the rotatable frame 32, the latter supports upper and lower web-guiding rings 66 and 68 made of appropriate material such as glazed porcelain and suitably secured in place as by providing the same with grooves 19 and 12 to receive annular tongues 'I4 and 16 on the frame 32. The frame is conveniently split as at 1B (see Fig. 5) at top and bottom and is provided with cap screws 8U to hold the halves together.

Returning to Fig. 2, the roller 22 is secured to a shaft 82 whose ends are supported as by roller bearings 84 (like those hereinbefore described) in bearing brackets 86. By reference to Fig. 1 it will be observed that the axis of the roller 22 is placed a considerable distance from the vertical axis of the machine so that the web will travel in a substantially vertical line to the tangent point of the roller.

The frames 38 and 54 and the bearing brackets 86 are parts of an appropriate framework such as that now to be described, reference being had at first to Fig. 4. The lower frame 38 is secured as by cap-screws 88 to horizontal members such as angle-irons 99. Four similar members such as angle-irons 92, suitably secured, as by mitering and welding to the angle-irons 90, extend upwardly and are secured as by cap-screws 94 (see Fig. 3) to the upper frame 54. The vertical angle-irons 92 are extended further and are secured as by cap-screws 96 to tWo horizontal members such as angle-irons 93, to which the bearing brackets 86 are secured as by cap-screws |09. The vertical angle-irons 92 are prolonged still further and are suitably secured as by welding to plates |02 which may be secured to roof or ceiling beams as by lag-screws or bolts passed through holes |04 in said plates (see Fig. 1). The supporting of a machine of this' class from above, or even on a wall, as distinguished from supporting it on the oor, possesses distinct advantages which will become apparent.

Referring again to Fig. 2, rotation of the frame 92 about the vertical axis A-A is conveniently accomplished as by providing the frame with a V-groove pulley |06 to receive a V-belt |08 connecting the same to a V-groove pulley |||I secured to a vertical shaft ||2. While this shaft might be extended downwardly to a convenient point to be operated by hand, I prefer to operate it by the application of power from an appropriate appliance capable of quick response to rotate the shaft in opposite directions, and having an intermediate neutral position in which the shaft is stationary. There are various commercial reversing mechanisms available, but I prefer to employ a commercially available, reversible, electric motor ||4 conveniently supported by the framework of the machine.

While, as is well known, there are single phase, reversing motors, and shunt wound, reversing motors with appropriate circuit arrangements, I prefer to employ a three-phase motor with a known circuit arrangement including a push button station and magnetically operated, relay switches operated thereby, as made by General Electric Company, and illustrated in their known wiring diagram reproduced in Fig. 9, which Will require only brief explanation. The power supply lines are designated. L1, L2, and L3, and the motor terminals are designated T1, T2, and T3. There is a forward button, a reverse button, and a stop button. Operation of the forward button causes energi'zation of a magnet F and operation of the reverse button causes energization of the magnet R.. The armatures of these magnets are mechanically interlocked. One operates a set of four switches for forward rotation, the other operates a set of four switches for reverse rotation, and the use of the stop button stops the motor. In the diagram there are two thermal overload, relay switches OL which are employed in this particular circuit arrangement. As this is a known, commercially availab-le control for a three-phase motor, it is thought that further description of the same should be unnecessary.

The push button station naturally will be placed conveniently for the operator to observe the web Il] as it passes from the receptacle |2 between the rolls 29 and thence over the roll 22. Sometimes the twist present in the web will continue in one direction for a time and then in the opposite direction for a time. By observing the direction of twist, the operator can remove the twist by appropriate operation of the pushy button station, so that the web, on reaching the roll 22 will be without twist and will be in the proper condition to be presented first to the spreading rolls I6 and then to the forwarding rolls I8. As already indicated, the apparatus may be employed to twist a web in preparation for dyeing and other finishing operations.

Having thus described one embodiment of the invention, but without limiting myself thereto, what I claim, and desire, by Letters Patent, to secure is:

1. In web handling apparatus of the kind wherein a lengthwise movement is rimparted to the web, the combination of a rotatable body through which the web is passed, web guides between which the web is passed, said guides being carried by and disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of the axis of rotation of said body, means to urge one guide toward the other to flatten the web between them, and meansI to rotate said body in either direction.

2. In a machine for twisting or untwisting a longitudinally travelling web, the combination of a pair of guide rollers between which the Web is passed, a rotatable support on which said rollers are mounted to enable said support to be turned in either direction about an axis transverse to the axes of said rollers, said guide rollers being disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of the axis of rotation of said support, means to urge one guide roller toward the other to flatten the web between them, a third guide roller over which the web is passed, and a relatively fixed support for said third roller.

3. In web handling apparatus of the kind wherein a lengthwise movement is imparted to the web, the combination of two web-guiding rings through which the web is passed in succession, a frame rotatable about an axis extending through said rings, a pair of web guides between which the web passes on its way from one of said rings to the other, said guides being carried by said frame about said axis and disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of said axis, and means to urge one guide toward the other to flatten the web between them.

4. In a machine for twisting or untwisting a longitudinally travelling web, the combination of a fixed framework comprising two frames presenting coaxial tracks, two sets of rollers running on said tracks, respectively, a rotatable frame deriving support and guidance from said rollers, coaxial web-guiding rings supported by said rotatable frame, a pair of web-guiding rolls between said rings, a web-guiding roll supported by said fixed framework, and means for turning said rotatable frame about an axis common to said tracks and said rings and passing between the rolls of said pair.

5. In a machine for twisting or untwisting a longitudinally travelling web, the combination of a fixed framework, a rotatable frame supported by said xed framework, said frame presenting guides transverse to the axis of rotation of said frame, pairs of bearing blocks guided by said guides, a pair of web-guiding rolls supported by said pairs of bearing blocks, said axis extending between and transversely of said rolls, means to urge said rolls toward each other, web-guiding rings about said axis at opposite sides, respectively, of said web-guiding rolls, and mechanism arranged to rotate said rotatable frame in opposite directions about said axis.

6. In a machine for twisting or untwisting a longitudinally travelling web, the combination of a xed framework comprising vertically disposed members, upper and lower horizontally disposed members connecting said vertically disposed members, said horizontally disposed members having openings for the passage of the web, a rotatable frame supported by said fixed framework and arranged to rotate about a vertical axis passing through said openings, upper and lower webguiding rings carried by said rotatable frame and disposed about said axis, horizontally disposed web-guiding rolls at opposite sides, respectively, of said axis between said web-guiding r rings, a pulley on said rotatable frame about said axis, a second pulley, a belt connecting said pulleys, a reversible driving mechanism supported on said fixed framework and arranged to drive said second pulley, and a third horizontally disposed web-guiding roll above said upper, horizontally disposed member.

'7. In a machine for twisting or untwisting a longitudinally travelling web, the combination of a fixed frame presenting coaxial, lower and upper tracks, a lower set of rollers supported by said lower track, an upper set of rollers guided by said upper track, a rotatable frame having lower and upper portions which carry said lower and upper sets, respectively, and having intermediate connecting portions presenting horizontal guides, bearing blocks guided by said guides, horizontal rolls supported by said bearing blocks and disposed at opposite sides, respectively, of the common axis of said tracks, means for urging said rolls toward each other along said guides, lower and upper web-guiding rings below and above said web-guiding rolls, a pulley on said rotatable frame about said axis, a second pulley, a belt connecting said pulleys, reversible driving means for said second pulley, and a third web-guiding roll supported by said iixed frame above said upper member. Y

8. In a web handling apparatus, the combination of instrumentalities to feed the web in a straight*l path and to turn the webl about an axis within and lengthwise of said path, said instrumentalities including two web-engaging elements at opposite sides, respectively, of said path, and means to urge one of said elements toward the other.

9. In a web handling apparatus, the combination of instrumentalities to feed the web in a straight path and to turn the web about an axis within and lengthwise of said path, said instrumentalities including two web-engaging elements at opposite sides, respectively, of said path, means to urge one of said elements toward said path and toward the other of said elements, and means to guide one of said elements in itstravel toward said path.

10. In a web handling apparatus, the combination oi instrumentalities to feed the web in a straight path and to turn the web about an axis within and lengthwise of said path, said instrumentalities including two web-engaging elements at opposite sides, respectively, of saidpath, and a spring tending to urge one of said elements toward said path.

1l. In a web handling apparatus, the combination of a pair of elongated, cylindrical, webengaging rollers, means to rotate said rollers as a unit about an axis between and transverse to said rollers, means to pass the web in a rectilinear path extendingbetween said rollers and along said axis; and means to urge one roller toward said rectilinear path and toward the other roller.

12. In a web handling apparatus, the combination of a receptacle for a twisted web, webV spreading means for spreading the web by tensioning the same transversely, and means between said receptacle and said web spreading means to untwist the web by rotating the same in relation to said web spreading means. Y

13. In a web handling apparatus, the combination of web spreading means for spreading the web by tensioning the same transversely, and web rotating means to rotate said web relatively to said web spreading means, said web rotating means including two web engaging members between which the web passes on its way to said web spreading means..

14. Apparatus for handling a twisted web comprising in combination, a receptacle from which the twisted web is drawn, web spreading means, y

opposite sides, respectively of the axis of rotation and movable one toward the other. v BERCY COOK. 

